Luis Suarez, Liverpool’s talismanic centre-forward, admitted to being ‘embarrassed’ at winning the club’s Player of the Month award for the third time in a row in October. Quite, the Uruguayan needn’t be so sheepish in accepting the accolade as he has been one of Liverpool’s outstanding performers so far this season. A fact which brings into sharp contrast the differing fortunes of his strike partner, young Andy Carroll.
The tall forward, 22, purchased in last season’s January transfer window along with Suarez, has had a rather quiet first year at the Merseyside club (his antics off the pitch not so much) and has thus far, struggled to live up to his massive £35 million price tag. Granted, Carroll, has had spells out of the side due to injury and this can lessen a player’s sharpness and eye for goal. But, after having had quite a lengthy spell in the starting XI now, alongside Suarez, you would have expected more than the paltry return of three goals from 13 appearances this campaign.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that Carroll doesn’t possess a number of qualities needed from a number nine, quite the opposite. He obviously has immense aerial presence, packs a super left-foot shot and is surprisingly quick for a big man. He can hurt teams and has proved that – against West Brom this season when he scored and caused a nuisance and against Man City last season, a 3-0 win in which he scored a brace. But, it often seems that the man carries the burden of such an extortionate fee, one which makes him the eighth most expensive player in history and the outright most expensive British footballer.
When the Reds signed Carroll in January this year it came as a bit of a bolt out of the blue and something of a panic buy. Looking to plug the hole left by Fernando Torres’ departure to Chelsea for £50 million, Kenny Dalglish poached Carroll from his hometown club Newcastle United, a move which, at the time, Carroll himself said he was surprised by. The £35 million transfer fee seemed a hefty price and one which had jaws dropping all over the country. Indeed, he didn’t even play for the first month or so due to injury. However, as earlier mentioned, he came back and proved his worth, shining in a 3-0 win over Man City.
Sadly, it seems Carroll has struggled to build on that early promise and came under fire from England manager Fabio Capello in this campaign for his drinking habit, something which the Italian said he needs to curb if he’s to make a name for himself in the game. Strong words from Capello but they are words that the young striker must heed if he harbours hopes of making the squad for next summer’s European Championships.
In his first season in this division, Carroll started like a house on fire; scoring a hat-trick for Newcastle in a 6-0 demolition of Aston Villa and plundering a number of goals in the months that followed. If he is to live up to his huge price tag, he must first realise the stature of the club at which he is playing his trade (Liverpool is a very beast to Newcastle United) and iron out his off-the-field problems in order to reach his full potential. The Premier League is an unforgiving place and if Carroll fails to do this he may well find himself on a list of names entitled ‘expensive flops’.
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You cannot compare a artificial precious stone to a rare genuine polished diamond.Can you?.
Luis Suarez is a thoroughbred whereas Andy Carroll is a donkey. It’s bad enough to play like a donkey but Carroll, with the silly pony-tail, even looks the part.